David Blicq  dblicq@rrc.mb.ca  (update 01/04/2010)         DIRECTORY I BIO I NOTICE BOARD

The story of Velcro is an often-told but classic example of biomimicry and biomimetrics. As anyone who has hiked through fields of weeds can tell you, burrs have a rather amazing tendency to stick to your clothing or hair. In 1948. a Swiss engineer (George de Mestral) used the cocklebur's adhesive properties to design what is now commonly known as Velcro.  When De Mestral examined some cockleburs using a microscope, he observed that  their adhesive properties were due to lone thin strand with tiny "hooks" on each end.  The design was perfect: secure adhesion of seeds to passing animals, with a tendency to eventually fall off in a new location, propagating the species.

It took just under ten years of research to produce the modern version of Velcro based on two different strips of material. The first strip represents the cocklebur (with thousands of small hooks), while the second piece represents the burr, with thousands of small hooks. Pressed together these two strips produce a reasonably secure and yet completely reversible bond.

Velcro is a classic example of observation, research and execution critical to biodesign. As modest as this biodesign may seem Vlecro-type fasteners have provided society with a practical and effective releasable adhesive. Such touch-fasteners are used in clothing, aircraft, office equipment, and sporting and leisure equipment. Other applications include the automotive and medical industries, , and even NASA's space program.